


Understanding

by OTTSTF



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 18:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15515775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTTSTF/pseuds/OTTSTF
Summary: A moment of pure emotion between two people results in three of the happiest people on Earth.Post-gate missing scene that I wouldsolove a flashback to in S3(hah, right).





	Understanding

**Author's Note:**

> I should be sleeping.  
> But no.  
> I rarely get ideas.  
> I NEED TO PUBLISH.

“Michael!” a very loud feminine voice calls from down the hallway. Mike groans, turning in his sleep in hopes of muffling his mother’s voice out.  
“Chief Hopper’s here for you!”

That springs Mike awake in an instant.  
_The Chief? Why the hell is he here? I thought everything was dealt with.  
I hope it is…_

He gets downstairs in record time.  
“Why does the Chief want me?” he asks his mother, hoping to sound unsuspicious.

“For those chores you said you’d help me with?” the signature gruff voice suddenly answers.  
“You said you needed an extra bit of cash, remember?”

Mike looks over to the Chief, who’s pulling a _‘play along’_ face.

“Oh… right, yeah… that.” Mike agrees.  
“Let me just… get ready.”

Hopper returns to his Blazer, whilst Mike prepares himself for the awkard situation ahead. He truly has no idea why the Chief wants him, but it can’t possibly be for anything good.

In no longer than two minutes, he’s sat beside the Chief, and they’re moving. The silence between them is awkward, yet Mike’s sure he prefers it over arguing with the Chief over their arguments from a week ago.

“So…” the Chief breaks the silence, much to Mike’s annoyance.  
“How’ve you been, kid?”

Mike can’t help but roll his eyes.  
“Oh, you know.” Mike starts his response. “Pretty great, for a kid that’s been traumatised by monsters from another world _twice_ now.”

Hopper sighs. “Yeah… I’ve been finding it difficult too.”

“ _You?_ ” Mike retorts. “The big brave chief of police?”

“Uh, yeah?” Hopper rolls his eyes back. “I’m human too, Michael. I’ve been waking up in a cold sweat more nights than not.” the man admits.  
“In fact, I’d bet you’ve been handling it much better than I have.”

Mike raises an eyebrow in response to that comment.  
“What makes you say that?” he asks. “Are you trying to get me to forgive you for keeping El and I apart for so long?”

Hopper smirks slightly, knowing that this would _eventually_ come up.  
“I mean, that’d be nice… But I know you’ll never do that.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Mike agrees, turning his glance out the window. “I won’t.”

Hopper glances to Mike, and can’t help but cringe at the obvious sorrow in his reflection.

“Why did you do it anyway?” Mike asks eventually.  
“Even after I begged you to tell me if you found anything. All the times I came to you, crying after nightmares, asking if anything had showed up? Every time, you told me _‘no. I haven’t seen anything.’_ or _‘I haven’t seen her, but I promise I’ll keep looking.’_ even though for all that time, you were taking care of her? Why couldn’t you just tell me?”

“I-”

“What harm would it have done? I was the first person to take care of her; you should’ve known you could trust me.”

“Michael-”

“And you still won’t let me see her now, even though I _know_ now. You still don’t think I’d-”

“Michael!” the man eventually shouts over the boy beside him.  
“For goodness sake, let me speak!”

Mike is silenced, looking at the man with a stern expression. Hopper eventually drops his temporary anger and sighs.

“Sorry.” Hopper lightly mumbles before intending to speak.

“As if.” Mike grumbles under his breath, as if to not let the chief hear him.

“And you can stop it with that attitude, too.” Hopper barks back.

“Why? Why should I?”

“Because the year I kept you two apart?” Hopper raises his voice slightly again.  
“It wasn’t to spite you, Mike. It wasn’t because I didn’t trust _you,_ or because I didn’t want you to see each-other again.”

“Well why did you do it, then?” Mike insists.

Hopper sighs, once again. He takes his time before starting his reasoning.  
“You know my daughter? Sara?”

Mike looks at him suddenly. “You have a daughter?”

“Had.” Hopper quickly corrects him.

“Had? What do you mean ‘had’?” Mike questions.

Hopper waits a moment, rolling his head back as he demands the emotions that naturally follow talking of his late daughter to stay at bay.  
“She’s gone, kid.”

“Gone?” Mike asks, looking to the man once again. He’s about to question where, when the face on Hopper suddenly causes realisation to hit him. “ _Oh…_ ” It’s Mike’s turn to sigh in sorrow, and despite the hostility between them, he feels it’s only right to show respect.  
“I’m sorry.” he eventually follows.

“Thanks, kid.” Hopper responds, taking a moment to settle the emotions behind his stern face.

Mike also waits, but then questions. “No disrespect to her, but… what does she have to do with El?”

Despite the proximity of the previous subject, Hopper huffs a laugh, to Mike’s surprise.  
“I guess, looking after her for such a long time… she’s grown on me.” he admits.

“You… see her as a daughter?” Mike susses out.

“Yeah, I guess.” Hopper agrees.

“Okay… that’s not a bad thing. That’s _good._ ” Mike tells the man. “She needs a father-figure.”

There’s a brief pause, before Mike turns to the man again.  
“But that still doesn’t explain why you left me suffering for three-hundred and fifty-three days.”

At this point, Hopper’s pulling up at a dead end on a dirt path, surrounded by trees. He shuts the engine off, before turning fully to Mike.

“I was scared, kid.” he admits. “I was scared I’d lose her, the same way I lost Sara.”

Mike takes this in, letting the man continue.

“For so long, I shut myself out, because I never wanted to go through that kind of pain ever again. But then when I found her out on her own, I guess my old father instincts kicked in. I couldn’t leave her out there.”

“Well of course not.” Mike agrees. “I know there’s a decent man hiding behind the shitty attitude you give everyone.”

“Well now you know where that shitty attitude comes from.” Hopper quickly barks, causing Mike to feel guilt rise.

“Sorry.” Mike quickly apologises.

“Me too… and I guess she’s helping fix that attitude now…” he laughs now.

“But that’s why I couldn’t let you know, Mike.” the man tells him. “I was just _scared._ ”

“Scared you’d lose her the same way…” Mike finishes.

“Exactly.” Hopper nods gently, pausing for a moment.  
“It wasn’t to spite you. Not at all. I know how much you helped her, and I have had so much respect for you ever since last year, kid.”

Mike’s taken back by that. Respect, from the Chief of Police, was the last thing he expected.  
“Thanks, I guess?”

“And I wasn’t scared of losing her _because_ of you, either.” the man quickly adds.  
“But no matter how careful we could’ve been about it; all it could’ve took was one slip, and-”

“We could’ve lost her _again._ ” Mike finishes.

“Thank you.” Hopper sighs in relief as the understanding shines from Mike.

Mike sighs too, nodding his head in acceptance.  
“I understand.” he tells the man. “And… I guess… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” the man questions, his eyebrows furrowing.

“For the way I treated you back then, at the Byers’.” Mike clarifies.

“Don’t be.” Hopper tells him. “ _I_ understand too, kid. You were hurt, and that’s no surprise.”

Mike smiles at the man’s words, nodding his head.

“ _I’m_ sorry, Mike.” the man eventually follows.

“No, no. You shouldn’t be sorry either. You were protecting El.” Mike demands.  
“As much as it hurt… you’ve got nothing to be sorry about, either.”

Hopper is now the one smiling, as the understanding from Mike finally settles the deep feeling of guilt he’d had for causing Mike’s year-long pain.

At that point, Hopper opens his door, gesturing for Mike to do the same.  
“Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

Mike follows the man out of the vehicle, joining his path beside him.

“So is _that_ what this was about, then? Sorting our differences?” Mike asks.

“Exactly that, kid.” Hopper nods his head. “It’s going to help in the long run.”

  


Silence lingers between them for a while, before Mike finally breaks it.  
“Where are we going, anyway?”

“My grandfather’s old shack.” Hopper answers.   
“We used it for storage for a bit, before I kinda forgot about it. We’ve made some changes over the year, though.”

Mike’s confused for a brief moment, before realisation suddenly sets in.  
“You mean…” he begins to question, the sudden excitement screaming through his words.

Hopper smirks, nodding his head.

“Oh my god, thank you!” Mike practically jumps at the man, wrapping his arms around him tighter than probably necessary.

Hopper can’t help but laugh at the reaction, patting Mike’s back.

“So she’s feeling better?” Mike asks exciteedly.

“She’s recovered really well, kid. She’s been asking for you ever since.”

Mike immediately smiles at that. “Does she know you’re bringing me?”

“Not a clue.” Hopper shakes his head. “Thought I’d keep it a surprise for her, too.”

  


  


Hopper knocks the pattern onto the door firmly, telling Mike to remember it. Almost immediately, the locks can be heard sliding out of place.

“Hop?” a very distinct voice emerges from inside, and the expression on Mike’s face turns to a facinating mix of shock and excitement.

“I thought you went to wo-” the voice continued, before _she_ stepped through the door, and her eyes caught _him._

“Mike!” she screams, flinging herself forward so fast that Mike would’ve fallen backward, had Hopper not caught him.

He would scream her name back, but the shock inside him is too much for him to break past. _This is happening. This is real. She’s here, she’s in my arms, and she is real._

“You brought him here!?” El questions Hopper as she continues to squeeze Mike tight.

“No, kid. He found the place himself. I just followed him.”

Ignoring the sarcasm, El releases one hand from Mike and tugs hard on Hopper’s shirt, dragging him down. For the longest second of his life, he feels a sensation he’d not had for many, many years: a daughter’s lips pressed to his cheek.

The shock within him muffles out the shouts of thanks from her as he stays there, stunned for a moment. As he comes back to his senses, he feels the largest smile grow onto his face.

Ushering them inside, he pulls Mike aside for a brief second more once he gets the chance.

“Here, kid.” he passes Mike a ten dollar bill.

“Wh-What for?” Mike asks, shocked once again.

“One, for our little cover story.” Mike suddenly remembers it as the man mentions.   
“Two, as a further apology for the year of suffering I put you through.”

“Sir…” Mike sighs. “You don’t need-”

“Don’t worry about it, Mike.” Hopper cuts him off. “Just take it.”

Mike wants to argue, but he realises it’s pointless.  
“Thank you, sir.”

“No problem kid. Now, go catch up with her.”

Mike doesn’t need to be told twice, as he immediately returns to El’s side, holding her as she leans against him happily.

Hopper bids them well as he leaves for work, and he’s sure he looks beyond stupid wearing such a large smile whilst behind the wheel of his Blazer. The eyebrows raising at him in work as he walks in smiling for the first time in a _very_ long time do nothing to deter him, as he’s fairly certain that on this day, he is the happiest _father_ to walk this Earth, with two of the happiest children as a product of his actions.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback, feed me your feedback! It helps so much; it provides the motivation to (try) to produce more stories more frequently. And, most importantly, it makes a writer's day so much better the second they see a comment notification.
> 
> Thank you! I love you all!


End file.
